The Hyde Park Barracks is a confronting living record of early colonial Australia. As part of the Museums of History NSW's renewal of the site, three immersive installation works poetically tell human stories of the Barracks’ legacy, connecting us to place, past, empathy and First Peoples’ perspectives.
A 9-meter-long video projection, composed and designed by Anna Fraser, gradually reveals the Barracks’ use as a women’s asylum. The work weaves together haunting photography of the women with bureaucratic records that coldly document their existence.
In another room, intimate textures drift and flicker over the sculptural forms of dresses, made in collaboration with production designer Elizabeth Gadsby. The dresses and their imagery accompany the spoken words of their owners - the memories of young women journeying to the colony.
Life-size video portraits act as a coda to the museum experience, with descendants offering their own thoughts on the Barracks’ history, its impact on First Peoples’ communities, and their personal connection to the site.
